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Book Reviews

College-Prep Homeschooling

Your Complete Guide to Homeschooling through High School

Most homeschooling parents experience some degree of panic when their children reach high school age, especially given the preparation for college entrance exams such as the ACT and SAT. Chandra and David Byers, educators of their six children, have prepared a comprehensive guidebook to assist homeschoolers who have college as the ultimate goal.

College-Prep Homeschooling is the culmination of David Byers’ doctoral research, and is loaded with useful information, from suggestions on how to select the appropriate courses to teaching students how to deal with typical teenage distractions. For example, one of the more difficult tasks facing homeschooling parents is grading students’ (children’s) work, a topic the Byers address with hard pragmatism, exclaiming that “allowing a student to do less than the best that she can do promotes laziness.”

The Byers smoothly mix practical suggestions for creating a high school curriculum with traditional and non-traditional educational theory. In addition, a detailed explanation of self-directed learning is included, with information on the differences between active and passive learning and suggestions that “the goal of self-directed learning is to help your child develop both a desire and an ability to obtain knowledge.”

One of the most inspiring chapters explains the differences between common teaching methods, such as teacher-directed or student-directed learning activities, with a brief nod to some of the more well-known educational theorists. This can be especially helpful to homeschooling parents with little experience in teaching methodology. If this guide has any disadvantage, it is the vast amount of information (homework) for the parent-educator to absorb prior to creating a high school homeschool.

With a background in both academia and the corporate world, David Byer’s first venture into academic writing is thoroughly approached and smoothly delivered. A stay-at-home mother, Chandra brings the rich experience gained by “learning as you go” while homeschooling her own children. Together the Byers have achieved a worthwhile read for any parent venturing into the uncharted waters of homeschooling their high school child in preparation for a successful college experience.